Refiners say they can take 4.3M more barrels per day of U.S. light crude

A group of refiners lobbying against crude exports said the U.S. refining system can process all the light, tight oil that will be produced this decade and beyond. Via FuelFix, Consumers and Refiners United For Domestic Energy (CRUDE) cited a report that shows refiners can absorb an extra 4.3 million barrels of light oil per day — far more than what is expected to be produced through 2020.

CRUDE said refiners could process an additional 1.8 to 2.3 million barrels of light oil by using it instead of imported light oil and some medium and heavy crude imports. The report, however, did not address the cost of those changes, and some analysts believe a large-scale shift toward processing more U.S. light oil would have to be done at a discount. The spread between West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude passed $7 in early September but narrowed to just over $1 by the end of the month.